Frost Giant Glacierborn

Frost Giant Glacierborn (Heavy; CR 22)

Chaotic Evil - Huge - Humanoid (Giant)

Lore:	Know (Local)
42		62
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

34

Perception:
46	+36
Passive	Active

Ambush:

9+

on a d20

• Ambush Notes: Number above only counts in icy and snowy areas, otherwise, Ambush chance is 13+

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Low-Light Vision
• Keen Scent 60 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 80 ft.

Defense

AC

48

Man Def

48

Monster Health
2,712	1,356	42
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+24
Refl:	+21
Will:	+19

Strong Against:

• See Catch Boulders
• (Heavy Role) Immunity (partial 3): Heavies are immune to the first three conditions applied to them during an encounter. If a fourth condition is applied to a heavy, it is resolved normally. A 'condition' is defined as any non-instantaneous harmful effect applied to the monster, other than damage, but is most commonly one of the defined Status Conditions (but it doesn't have to be). Statuses related to damage (such as injured, bloodied, staggered, dying, or dead) are not 'conditions', and cannot be negated or avoided with this ability.
• Immune (no effect): Cold (energy, common)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Huge
15 ft.		15 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+32

Man Off

+38

Action

1

Points

• Maneuver Offense Notes: +3 on Cleaves

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 2x Glacial Bardiche +32 (6d8+41/19-20 x2)
  as hacking (physical, uncommon)
  plus: Burned, inflicting Cold (energy, common) damage

Full Attack (Melee):

• 4x Glacial Bardiche +32 (6d8+41/19-20 x2)
  as hacking (physical, uncommon)
  plus: Burned, inflicting Cold (energy, common) damage

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 2x Ice Ball +32 (6d8+41/19-20 x2)
  as cold (energy, common)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 300 ft.)
  Plus: Torpid until end of the target's next turn

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 4x Ice Ball +32 (6d8+41/19-20 x2)
  as cold (energy, common)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 300 ft.)
  Plus: Torpid until end of the target's next turn

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

44

STR

20

DEX

38

CON

14

INT

20

WIS

18

CHA

Skills:

• Bluff: 36
• Intimidate: 39
• Perception: 36
• Sense Motive: 38
• Survival: 36
• All other skills: 31 (no ranks)

Languages: Giant, Common

Feats:

• Mobility (EFFECT: +4 AC against attacks of opportunity from movement)

Special Abilities

Bitter Challenge (Ex) Swift Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as a swift action, a Frost Giant Glacierborn may challenge a foe to mortal combat. The foe challenged must be within fifty feet of the Frost Giant to issue this challenge, and the Giant must have line of effect to the foe so they may hear them issue the challenge. Deaf foes are immune to Bitter Challenge. The Giant does not have to share a language with the victim, nor is line of sight required. This challenge lasts until the beginning of the Giant's next turn. While Challenged, the victim takes a -2 to-hit penalty on any attacks, and a -2 penalty on any caster checks, when taking any attack or action that does not target or include the Challenging Giant. Note that it is possible for a single creature to be the target of multiple Bitter Challenges from multiple Frost Giants, but the penalty is never greater than a -2 to-hit or a -2 to concentration rolls. In such a case, that creature would suffer the penalty unless its attacks included or targeted each of the Challenging giants.

Catch Boulders (Ex) Free Action 2/Rnd

Twice per round as a free action, a Frost Giant may roll a d20 any time a thrown or projectile weapon is fired at them or passes anywhere within their reach. This applies to giant thrown weapons, siege weapon projectiles, arrows, bolts, bullets, or any other thrown weapon or ammo. Note that catching a projectile this way is a violent action that will set off alchemical bombs and items. If the Giant rolls an 8 or higher on this d20 roll, it successfully catches the attack, it is interrupted and lost unless it is an alchemical bomb or effect, in which case it effects the giant which caught it. Using this ability on a weapon with Returning means the attack is interrupted and lost but the weapon still returns to the wielder.

Cold Stare (Su) Immediate Action 1/Rnd

Once per round as an immediate action, a Frost Giant Glacierborn may direct a cold, murderer's stare at any creature who damaged it with any attack from beyond its melee reach. Cold Stare inflicts 6d8+41 points of Cold (energy, common) damage and inflicts the Paralyzed condition until the start of the Frost Giant's next turn. Making a Fort save against a DC of 32 reduces the Cold damage by half and lowers the Paralyzed condition to an Entangled condition instead, which still expires at the start of the Glacierborn's next turn.

Icy Breath (Ex) Standard Action

As a standard action, a Frost Giant may scoop out an Icicle from its belt pouch (where it stores such things), crunch it up in their terrible fangs, and with a powerful breath, blow a cloud of jagged ice shards into a thirty foot cone (6x6 squares) adjacent to their space. This inflicts 6d8+41 points of Cold (energy, common) damage unless a Refl save versus a DC of 32 is made, in which case it inflicts half damage. Note: If any creature caught in Icy Breath is suffering from the Burned condition inflicting Cold damage, that conditiopn is escalated to the Immolated condition, regardless of whether the save is made or not.

Broken Ice Heart (Su; Heavy Role) Auto Upon Death

When a Frost Giant Glacierborn is made dead the first time in a given encounter, they do not die. Instead, they fall to a knee, sag against a wall, clutch their chest, or otherwise signal their distress. But then, there is an audible, horrible, crunch from within their bodies, and a massive gust of utter, polar cold wafts from their bodies as they are rimed, head to toe, in bitter blue-white frost. When Broken Ice Heart activates, their hit points are reset to equal their Bloodied Value of 1356, the Glacierborn has all their conditions removed at the beginning of their next turn, including the ability to stand without penalty, and they may fight on. The Glacierborn gains no immunity to damage from Broken Ice Heart, but the chilling breeze that blows from their super-chilled skin wafts outward, affecting all squares within 5 squares of their space (a 13x13 square area if they are the default size Huge). All creatures caught within the cold waft of their Bitter Ice Heart suffer 6d10+62 hit points of cold (energy, common) damage, and are allowed a Fort save to take half damage. In addition, any creature caught in the area of effect of Broken Ice Heart which is suffering from the effects of a Burned or Immolated condition inflicting Cold damage, find that the condition activates when Broken Ice Heart activates (regardless of save) and the damage from the bonus activation of the condition is added to the damage from Broken Ice Heart for purposes of bypassing damage resistance.

Frost Giant Glacierborn

This creature possesses the Heavy role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.

This monster frequently has the Heavy role, but may be set to different roles if desired.

In the world, there are places where summer never comes. There are vast frozen wastelands coated in permanent ice, there are gigantic boreal forests that lie cloaked in eternal winter, there are high, bright deserts where the utter cold of the Deep Dark has settled into the world's bones permanently.

Many races with the Spark of Civility can tolerate the cold very well, most notably the rocky Oreads, the deep-dwelling Dwarves, and the well-furred Gata, Kitsune, Nagdyr and Tengu. Humans, of course, live everywhere, and thrive.

But in the deepest and most bitter of the Cold Lands, there are no civilized races. Not because they cannot bear the numbing cold. But because there is something much older, much colder, much, much worse that already lives there.

The Cold Lands are the natural home of one of the coldest, cruelest races of Giants imaginable. They call themselves Aesir, or Frostborn, or even sometimes the Rimed Ones. To all other races they are known as the Frost Giants.

Frost Giants control vast areas of territory, cold, hard places, inhospitable lands where food is hard to find. Unfortunately for the world, Frost Giants have an eerie magical metabolism and they can survive, even thrive, on nothing but a diet of ice. In places where there is plentiful ice, Frost Giants are discouragingly common. In cold, dry places such as bright deserts, Frost Giants find ice, imported from their own territory, or stolen as water from warmer climes, is a long-lasting food store that never goes bad.

Frost Giants have many styles of 'civilization' in their lands. There are roving bands of barbaric cannibals, there are vast mountaintop fortress cities of blue, bitter ice, there are vast glacier-born towns of wrackwood and tusks sprawling down the sides of mountain ranges, there are vast log fortresses in dark, cold forests, there are entire plains sculpted into lost, empty Igloo Ruins. Frost Giants live in all these places and more, sometimes in hordes, sometimes as single wanderers and hunters.

One unifying feature of the Frost Giant 'culture' is the fact that Frost Giant hearts are as cold and unforgiving as their territory. Frost Giants do not understand such concepts as friendship, love, mercy, or compassion. Every Frost Giant, from the most exalted to the lowliest, truly cares about only one thing, which is themselves. Frost Giants are capable of working together to raise mighty works, create vast fortresses and cities, and march in terrible armies, but the driving motivation behind every one of them in the masses is pure selfishness.

Another feature of Frost Giants is their pure, unrelenting evil. The cold that drives them and makes up so much of their mindset leaves no room for kindness or gentleness or weal. There is no such thing as a kindly Frost Giant, they are every one as vicious, nasty, and unfeeling as the worst monster ever spawned.

Some Frost Giants are Glacierborn, a cold rage driving them to maddened heights of murder. Others are cowards and connivers, seeking allies and pets to do the hard work of making them enriched. Some Frost Giants are twisted by terrible cold magic, their bones fuming with hoarfrost, and others are as patient and unforgiving as a frozen sea.

Frost Giants delight in owning slaves, and use them in every low, demeaning way possible. They especially value Stone Giants and any of the Civilized races as slaves, both for their valuable skills and abilities as well as the way they provide a fun and easy outlet for their basest urges toward rapine, torture, murder, and cannibalism.

In addition to slaves, Frost Giants count many creatures as allies and pets. Trolls and ogres, of course, delight in Giantish company. Remorhazes, winter wolves, yetis and even wendigoes are valuable pets, chattel, and allies. Frost Giants also frequently have Hill Giants as serfs, the hardy creatures enduring the cold without trouble and providing a cheap source of unending labor. Frost Giants have even been known to capture and enslave White Dragons, much to their own delight and the chagrin of such proud creatures, although anyone who crosses the Dragons must be careful indeed.

Frost Giants spend much of their time raiding, warring, and murdering among themselves, in their dark, cold fastnesses. Unfortunately, those Giantish lands that lie close to the lands of the Civilized races are considered to be Giantish lands as well, just momentarily too hot for comfort. Frost Giants delight in raiding into civilized territory, and they have developed a type of magically chilled glacier which serves as their preferred vehicle for such depredations.

A Frost Giant Glacier is a vast block of ice, easily the size of a Civilized Galleon that has been scaled up to size Huge, and each one has a full complement of Frost Giants, siege weapons, and looting/pillaging space. Such Galleons can 'sail' across dry land for up to a year before melting, and provide the Frost Giants aboard a comfortable place from which to kill and raid to their hearts content.

The Glaciers hearken back to the ages of Frost Giant glory in the past, the so called Ice Ages, when glaciers covered the world, carrying utterly victorious Frost Giant hordes to the ends of the world to crush and rule everywhere. In a Frost Giant's mind, it is just a matter of time until the next Ice Age begins, and when it does, the world will belong to them once again.

Frost Giant Glacierborn are the noble and highborn among Frost Giant 'society'. They are well-off, confident, arrogant, and their cruelty is legendary, even among Frost Giants. Glacierborn are well-known for using the skins, bones, and skulls of sentient victims as accent pieces and decorations for their armor, clothing, and other possessions, just to give an idea of their mind-set.

Frost Giant Glacierborn are tough, powerful and often hard to put down in battle, making them natural champions for the Glaciers, or the powerful core of a raiding force.

Glacierborns tend to fight with a cold, dangerous prowess, swinging their massive ice-edged weapons, throwing icicles, breathing clouds of cold, and directing their deadly-cold gaze upon all who displease them. There is no way to attack a Glacierborn that is safe or easy, but they must be opposed or the world will freeze to death.

Combat Tactics

Frost Giant Glacierborn will fight bravely and dangerously, attacking with intelligence and skill. They have a potent ranged attack in their Icicles, and their Icy Breath is potent as well. Glacierborn will seek to stay between any ranged attackers and their back ranks, so they can use their Catch Boulders power to swat away attacks going past them. Anyone foolish enough to shoot them from beyond melee range with enough skill and force to overcome their Catch Boulders ability will be frozen immediately with their fearsome Cold Stare ability, which is usually more than enough to stop further ranged attacks.

Melee attackers will not find Glacierborns an easy foe, however. Glacierborns will take move actions to set up flanks for full attack with their Bardiches later, trusting the Combat maneuvers to let them didge any provoked attacks. A flanking full attack is dangerous, indeed.

As a Glacierborn starts taking damage they actually get WORSE. If they have their normal Heavy role, they will plunge into combat so that their terrible Broken Ice Heart affects as many enemies as possible. They will swing their Bardiches at as many foes as they can manage, trying to set up Burn and Immolated conditions for later activation, if the fight goes poorly.

If they have a Killer role, they will use their Gnashing Fury automatic bite attack on everything they can reach, and are likely to spread Bardiche attacks around to try and get as many of their foes Immolated with cold as they can manage.

They will throw a Bitter Challenge when they think of it, treating it like a game, to always challenge a foe that can't reach them.

In battle, Glacierborns are individualists, but cagey enough to know the usefulness of flanks and maneuver. If forced into ranged combat they will slowly retreat, throwing volleys of Icicles and they will expend their Cold Stare on the most dangerous ranged attacker as early as possible, to break line of sight and hopefully force a closer fight later, using the terrain to their advantage if they can.

In melee, they try to attack bunched-up foes so they can try Cleaves as often as possible. In general, if there is a way for a Glacierborn to weasel its way into an additional attack, it will take it. That said, if they happen to see an opportunity for an easy flank, or an opening where a Bull Rush, Trip, or a Reposition will work in their favor, they are plenty cagey enough to try it.

Once combat begins, Glacierborns are true Frost Giants: They are not exactly cowardly, but once their Broken Ice Heart has activated, if their foes survicve, the Glacierborn will begin working for an exit with honor.

Out of Combat

Glacierborns are cold, greedy, calculating creatures, whose quick hands and ruthless thirst for murder, rapine, and mayhem means they are best kept out in the field, away from other Frost Giants. As a result, they are valued in Frost Giant society...from afar. Glacierborns get out a lot, and they are frequently encountered by a group of victims stumbling into an ambush.

When Glacierborns are integrated into a larger Giantish society, they are not held in reserve as guards, but instead sent out on endless, relentless raids and attacks, attacking at night and under the cover of storms. This suits Glacierborns just fine, and if they are ever found in a 'civilized' setting, they will be even more eager than most Frost Giants to start a fight or stage a home invasion on a sleeping party.

Rewards

XP: 1,230,000 (Heavy role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 370,600 gp.

Weight: 440 lbs.     Volume: 17.6 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 8	Nothing Found
9 - 12	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
13 - 15	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
16 - 18	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
4 - 7	4 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
8 - 11	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
12 - 15	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
16 - 18	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
19 - 20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 3	4 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
4 - 5	4 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
6 - 8	4 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
9 - 11	4 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
12 - 15	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
16 - 18	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
19 - 20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)